Greed taint­ing Ti­betan Bud­dhism, says Panchen lama

BEI­JING: Pa­tri­o­tism is the “mis­sion” of reli­gion in China, but greed is taint­ing Ti­betan Bud­dhism, says the gov­ern­ment-ap­pointed sec­ond-high­est spir­i­tual leader of the faith, who was cho­sen by China to win the hearts and minds of Ti­betans.

Ti­bet’s cur­rent spir­i­tual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom China brands a dan­ger­ous sep­a­ratist, had an­nounced his choice of a 6-year-old boy to re­place the pre­vi­ous Panchen Lama, but he was taken away by au­thor­i­ties and has since van­ished from pub­lic view.